Chapter 45 Cooking
Next, prepare the boiled fish, first sliced the grass carp into fillets, marinate them in pepper, egg whites, rice wine, starch and salt for 20 minutes, and fry the bean sprouts and vegetables in boiling water for later use. Pour an appropriate amount of oil into the wok and heat it, then add pepper, chili, star anise, cinnamon, and fry slowly for 10 minutes on low heat until fragrant. In another pot, put the oil prepared at the beginning in the pot, then put some ginger, garlic, pepper and dried chili peppers and stir-fry until fragrant, and then add the bean paste and stir-fry together. Then bring the stock to the pot, blanch the fish fillets for two minutes, and turn off the heat when you watch the fish fillets change color. Put the blanched bean sprouts and greens in a large container, pour all the blanched fish fillets, and sprinkle the surface with paprika. Heat the original spare stir-fried oil, add some Sichuan pepper and dried chili pepper and stir-fry until fragrant, then pour the oil into the fish fillet and sprinkle with chopped green onions.
The six princes, who have eaten a lot of delicacies from the mountains and seas, have to let him eat something light, and this boiled cabbage heart is very suitable. Wash and drain the choy sum, put an appropriate amount of water in the pot and bring to a boil, add a little oil and salt, put the choy sum into the pot, continue to cook on high heat for 2 minutes, then remove and put on a plate. Chop the garlic and sprinkle it over the boiled choy sum and drizzle with soy sauce. Heat a wok and pour some oil into the pan after heating, pour it over the minced garlic and boil the cabbage heart.
Finally, pull out the bananas, cut the bananas into hob pieces, mix the bananas into a batter with cornstarch and eggs, hang the banana pieces, fry them in an oil pan, and fry them until the surface is golden and take them out. In another pot, add a small amount of oil and a lot of sugar, until the sugar is syruped and boiled into a dark yellow color, put the fried banana pieces into the oil pan, and let the banana pieces evenly hang the syrup. As soon as this dish was put on the plate, I asked them to send it to the six princes in a hurry, telling them that in the end, if the dish was cold, they would not be able to eat it, and it would all stick. In addition to sending it to the six princes, he also left some for the imperial chef here, "You might as well try it." ”
The chefs looked at each other and began to taste my dishes, the cold chef ate saliva chicken, the hot chef ate boiled fish and boiled cabbage heart, and the dessert chef ate the banana. In the dishes of this era, these condiments are rarely used, and some of the seasonings are shipped from the Wolf Moon Country, which these imperial chefs will not use, and these seasonings are used in the saliva chicken and boiled fish I made. Their expressions changed from distrust to surprise, they didn't expect these dishes to come out with these flavors, and fruits could also be included in the dishes, and they couldn't help but look at me differently.
"I didn't expect that I had such craftsmanship at such a young age, I'm ashamed!" One of the oldest imperial chefs sighed.
"The imperial chef doesn't have to be presumptuous, these dishes are what I often make, and if the taste is not good, then I am ashamed."
Soon I mingled with this group of imperial chefs, everyone talked and laughed, and about an hour later, a eunuch said that the six princes were very satisfied with the dishes sent, and said that they would cook them every 3 days in the future. After I cooked these dishes, these imperial chefs saw them, so I didn't need to demonstrate them, but just told them that dessert can be made not only with bananas, but also with apples, sweet potatoes, and water chestnuts, and after a little bit of things to pay attention to, I left the imperial dining room.
At this time, it was about 2 o'clock in the afternoon, and the fifth princess should be almost back, so I went to Xiyuan, and I don't know when I will be able to leave the palace, and now I am in the palace, I had better stay at the fifth princess. When I entered the West Garden, I saw a girl, this should be the third princess, who looked like the four princes were carved out of the same mold, if I didn't know that the four princes had a sister, I thought the four princes had a cross-dresser!
"See the Third Princess."
"You are Wang Wan'er! During this time, I heard you the most, let me take a good look at what kind of three heads and six arms you have, so many people are full of praise for you. ”
"I'm afraid I'm going to disappoint the princess. The minister can neither fly to the sky nor the earth, and has no three heads and six arms. ”
"What a little mouth." The third princess circled around me and patted my head gently, "Okay, I finally met you today, and I will have a chance to talk to you in the future." With that, he turned and left.
"Congratulations to the third princess."
At the door of Xiyuan, the fifth princess happened to come in: "Alas, third sister, why are you back?" ”
"Come back and see someone."
"Huh?"
"Okay, the third sister still has something to do, so let's go first."
"Okay, third sister go slowly."
"Sister Wan'er, third sister, she said that she came back to see someone, is it you?"
"Yes."
"Did the third sister do anything?"
"No, the third princess just talked to me."
"Oh, my third sister likes to be very tidy, you have to be careful in the future."
"I see."
"How is the princess going to court today?"
"What else, that's it! Why don't we play backgammon that you taught me yesterday! ”
"Okay."
After about an hour of playing, I saw that I had been sitting for a long time, so I took the fifth princess out for a walk.
"Sister Wan'er, tell me a story!"
"Okay, then I'll tell you a story about Snow White."
"It is said that in the far west, there was a very beautiful princess, she had blonde hair and skin as white as snow, so she was called Snow White. …… After that, she lived happily ever after with the prince. ”
"Wow, Sister Wan'er, do you think I can meet such a prince of the white horse in the future?"
"Yes, definitely."
"By the way, Fifth Princess, let's go to the queen's place for dinner today!"
"Good! But Sister Wan'er, how did you think of going to my mother's place? ”
"Because I'm going to cook a few dishes for you."
"You want to cook?"
"Yes, the princess and queen are taking care of me these days, and I can't help much, so I have to cook a few dishes for you to eat, I hope you can like it."
"That's really good, Yunyun has been telling me, how delicious your cooking is, I haven't had a chance, I have a good mouth today."
"It's good if the princess doesn't dislike it."
"If you don't dislike it, how can you dislike it! Let's go and tell the queen mother the good news! ”
"The princess will go first, and I will go to the imperial dining room to prepare."
"Alright, I'll go first."
I was in the imperial dining room, busy preparing meals for the queen and the five princesses, this time I made a dish of boiled beef, sauerkraut fish, hoof tendon goose paw stewed pomelo peel, vegetarian Dongpo meat, and dim sum to make fruit pot cake. Once you have decided to start cooking, you will start with the hoof tendon goosepaw stewed pomelo peel, which is just enough time to simmer. The ratio of hoof tendons and goose paws is 1:2, the appropriate amount of grapefruit peel, not too much and not too little, more other ingredients and simmering time to set, too much afraid of simmering, too little and afraid of simmering. First wash the beef tendons and cut them into pieces, add broth, a little ginger and shallots, peppercorns to the pot, add the beef tendons, simmer over medium heat for 2 to 3 hours until soft, wash the goose paws, add a little dark soy sauce and mix well, fry them in high-temperature oil for 5 minutes, drain the oil and set aside, squeeze and soak the grapefruit peel with mountain spring water repeatedly to remove the bitter and astringent taste, blanch and set aside, wait for the beef tendon to simmer well, mix all the ingredients into the pot, add a little oyster sauce and abalone juice and simmer for a while.
The second dish is to prepare the fruit pot cake first, because it needs to be cooled before it can be formed. Stir the water and tapioca starch evenly according to 1:1, boil the water and brown sugar according to 2:1, rush into the previous batter while hot, stir while rushing, pour into the mold, put the fruit cubes, steam on high heat for 15 minutes, become transparent, and then you can eat after cooling.
The third course is to prepare Sudongpo meat, cut half a winter melon, shape it into a square, and peel off the skin. Turn it over and remove the seeds and gourd from the back. Put it in a small basin, pour in the dark soy sauce, and spread the dark soy sauce evenly on the winter melon skin. Chop the shiitake mushrooms into dices, add tofu, crush the tofu with your fist, mix well with the shiitake mushrooms, pour in an appropriate amount of cornstarch, then add salt, light soy sauce, chicken essence and abalone juice to taste, mix well. Pour oil into the pan, fry the skin side down, and fry the skin over low heat to color the skin, imitating the skin of meat. Scoop it out and put the tofu and mushroom stuffing into the place where the plaintiff has melon pulp, and the yard is neat. Pour an appropriate amount of water into the pot and boil, put in a small amount of peppercorns and ingredients, pour in the old soy sauce of the pickled winter melon, add an appropriate amount of braised sauce to boil, pour the soup into the winter melon with the filling facing up, steam for 40 minutes in the pot until the winter melon is ripe. Add a little corn starch to water to make water starch, then add a little oyster sauce to the juice of the steamed winter melon, boil in the pot, pour in the water starch and cook until the soup is thick, and then pour a spoon on the winter melon on the plate, and the dish is completed.
Next is boiled beef and sauerkraut fish, a period of busy, finally all the dishes are done, fortunately there are usually martial arts, or these dishes that test kung fu, 2 or 3 hours to stand down, very tiring. After finishing it, some were left for the people in the imperial dining room, and the rest were put on plates and put in the food box, and let the eunuch and the palace maid lead them to Kunyu Palace with me.
"Sister Wan'er, I'm finally looking forward to you."
"See the Queen, the Fifth Princess."
"No excuses, sit down quickly. These good dishes must have exhausted you! ”
"No, I don't get tired of doing it in my parents."
"I don't say I'm tired, it's been more than an hour, and Min'er is too, how can I let you cook food."
"The queen mother, regardless of the princess's affairs, the minister wants to go."
"Okay, Queen Mother, don't say more, if the food is cold, it will be in vain for Sister Wan'er's thoughts."
"Hey, I almost forgot, put it on the table." The queen gave an order, and the eunuch and the palace maid put the dishes on the table, looking at these dishes, the queen and the fifth princess were stunned for a moment, and then said: "Let's start chopsticks!" ”
The queen first tasted the sauerkraut fish, this dish is sour and spicy, the fish is fresh and tender, and the queen then tasted the boiled beef, this dish is spicy and fragrant, and people can't help but keep putting chopsticks. Then the queen tasted the hoof tendon goosepaw stewed pomelo peel, and when she tasted it, her eyes showed doubts, and then she tasted Su Dongpo meat, and her eyes were also puzzled. On the other hand, the five princesses got carried away from eating, and their foreheads were sweating slightly, which should have been spicy by boiled beef and sauerkraut fish.